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President Trump’s reorganization of the Republican Party continues to advance. As president, he embraced some traditional Republican positions, such as tax cuts for the wealthy. But he went from a pro-free trade party to a pro-tariff party. Rather than trying to rein in the government, he spent freely and allowed the national debt to grow.
But nowhere His influence is more pronounced and potentially more consequential than what has become a complete reversal of the internationalism that was central to Republican orthodoxy throughout most of the post-World War II era. Ta. Both McConnell, in her role in the Senate, and Haley, Trump’s last remaining challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, strongly oppose this part of Trump’s policy prescription.
Haley has lost races to Trump in state after state, but she has refused to do what Trump expected her to do: gracefully concede defeat and sit on the sidelines. He faces an even tougher race in the coming days, and with 15 delegates on Super Tuesday alone, Trump’s lead in delegates could widen even further.
She said Trump was the right president at the right time. She agrees with many of his domestic politics, although not his fiscal stance. She served as ambassador to the United Nations in his administration. She intensified her criticism of him as a free man. The issue she bids farewell to most emphatically is the question of America’s role in the world.
She likes to say that “the world is on fire” with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and problems in other regions. She advocates for more military aid to Ukraine and opposes President Trump’s “America First” worldview. Her argument, shared by others, is that as the United States steps back from a global leadership role, the country and the world as a whole will become less secure in the face of threats from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. That’s what it means.
She reminds me of another Republican Party that has retreated since Trump first ran for president. She’s getting the votes, she’s getting 20 percent, or she’s getting 30 percent, even she’s getting 40 percent in the states where she’s campaigned so far, but she’s not in the debate. I haven’t won.
If the next primary election goes as expected and Trump wins, there will be even more calls for Haley to step down. She has so far defiantly resisted her call and marched to the beat of her own drum. But what is her purpose? Because there is little to suggest that she can stop her party from turning inward now or in the near future.
McConnell announced Wednesday that he will step down as Senate majority leader in November, ending the longest tenure as leader in Senate history. Many factors influenced this decision, including his age, health, and a tragic loss in his family.
But McConnell made it clear that he had come to a decision that not only had he lost the battle against Father Time. “Believe me, I am aware of the intraparty politics at this particular moment,” he said in announcing the decision. “I have many flaws. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”
Like Haley, McConnell agrees with Trump on many issues, especially on the restructuring of the federal judiciary and Supreme Court, which will be remembered as McConnell’s most important and controversial accomplishment. did. This was as much or more of a McConnell effort as a Trump priority.
McConnell’s heavy-handed tactics in this game will be remembered. He balked at filling one vacancy in 2016, while President Barack Obama was still in office, and even refused to give a hearing to Obama’s nominee, current Attorney General Merrick Garland. This gave President Trump the opportunity to nominate conservative Justice Neil M. Gorsuch in early 2017.
Weeks before the 2020 election, McConnell heavily criticized another Trump candidate, Amy Coney Barrett. During that time, Trump nominated and McConnell helped facilitate the confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.
The 6-3 conservative majority produced the most politically explosive decision in recent memory in 2022. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationturned over Roe vs. Wade And it ended half a century of constitutional abortion rights.
McConnell’s actions endeared him to conservatives but also made him particularly reviled on the left, leaving a permanent stain on his legacy. But despite what he has done on the judiciary, his increasingly open disdain for Trump and Trump’s intense hostility toward him have left him isolated within the party.
In the impeachment trial stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, President Trump was acquitted, despite condemning his role in the attack after the acquittal. He missed an opportunity to prevent Trump from running for president in 2019.
McConnell was elected to the Senate in 1984, the same year Reagan won reelection in a landslide. He viewed the world through the prism of the Reagan Doctrine, which advocated the need for strong American leadership in the world. Reagan successfully challenged the Soviet Union, leading to his memorable call to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. The wall came down after President Reagan left office, and the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after. That’s the world McConnell has been shaped into.
The Trump Doctrine is the inverse of the Reagan Doctrine, with a withdrawal from world leadership, a closed rather than expansive view of the United States, a feeling that others should bear the burden, and even a sense that the United States is being exploited. There is even a belief that And they are also abused by their allies.
Rather than challenge the Russians, Mr. Trump has long aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has rebuked the leaders of his allies and praised rising authoritarian leaders around the world.
Most notably, he repeatedly criticized the NATO alliance, which has been a bulwark against aggression by the Soviet Union and later Russia. Recently, he gave Russia the green light to “do whatever they want” to NATO countries that don’t spend enough on defense.
Such comments are a reason for similar concerns among America’s allies about what a second term in office for Mr. Trump would mean for them and the world at large.
Today, one of the big issues separating both McConnell and Haley from Trump is the issue of Ukraine, which provides access to weapons and other equipment needed to continue resistance in the face of Russia’s invasion two years ago. The question is whether the United States will continue to commit to providing support to the country.
McConnell and Haley believe it is essential to do so. Trump supporters are resisting. In the House, opposition from elected officials is stronger as Republicans more directly reflect or embrace President Trump’s “America First” philosophy.
However, even in McConnell’s Senate, many senators appear to be leaning toward Trump. When the Senate approved a $95 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, McConnell voted yes, but 26 of his Republican colleagues voted no.
McConnell has said he intends to serve out his current term, which ends in early 2027. As his former mentor, he will be able to speak his mind more freely, but will his voice resonate with the power he once had? Haley has given no indication of what the future holds for her presidential campaign. She will continue to use her voice to challenge Trump’s foreign policy views in hopes of rebuilding consensus on her Reaganism, especially if the president wins in November. Or?
It’s been a long winter for McConnell and Haley. With one announcing his resignation as party leader and another pondering what to do after Super Tuesday, it’s clear they represent a Republican Party that barely exists in President Trump’s world.
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